American Ballet Theatre presented its first full-length production of
The Sleeping Beauty, with choreography by Mary Skeaping from
the original of Marius Petipa and the staging of Nicholas Sergeyev,
at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, on June 15, 1976. Sets and
costumes were by Oliver Messel. The dancers were Natalia Makarova (Princess
Aurora), Mikhail Baryshnikov (Prince Florimund), Martine van Hamel (Lilac
Fairy), Dennis Nahat (Carabosse), Fernando Bujones (The Bluebird), and
Yoko Morishita (Princess Florine).

Catalabutte, the King’s loyal minister, is checking the invitation
list to make sure that no one has been forgotten. The good fairies,
led by the Lilac Fairy, have been invited to be godmothers to the little
Princess. Upon her they bestow magical gifts, blessing her with every
imaginable virtue so that some day she can marry the perfect prince.
This, in turn, will seal the security and happiness of the kingdom.

Just as the ceremony is coming to a happy conclusion, the evil fairy
Carabosse arrives and, in revenge for being left off the invitation
list, declares that the Princess will prick her finger with a spindle
and die.

Averting this tragedy, the Lilac Fairy promises that Aurora will not
die, but will instead fall into a deep sleep that will last a hundred
years or more. At the end of that time, a king's son shall awaken her
with a kiss.

King Florestan at once forbids all persons in the kingdom to keep a
keep a spindle, under pain of death.Act I - The
Spell: Sixteen years later in the Castle Garden
It is Princess Aurora’s sixteenth birthday, and princes from the
four corners of the earth seek her hand in marriage.

Before the festivities begin, Catalabutte catches the village gossips
with a banned spindle.

The King blames Catalabutte for the presence of the banned spindle
and condemns him to death. In response to the Queen’s pleas, the
King shows mercy and grants a pardon. Then, the festivities begin.

At the height of the celebration, Carabosse, in disguise, presents
Aurora with a spindle. Unaware of the danger, Aurora pricks her finger
and collapses, as if dead. Carabosse reveals herself in triumph and
vanishes. Just in time the Lilac Fairy appears and casts a spell of
sleep over the entire kingdom. She tells the King and Queen they must
leave the castle and leave Aurora to her destiny.

ACT II – Prince Désiré’s Journey:More than a century later
Prince Désiré is hunting by the river with members of
his court. Mysteriously, a vision of Aurora’s castle appears and
he is thereafter distracted from the merriments of the hunt party.

As the court is leaving to continue the hunt, the Prince realizes he
is at a crossroads. He must choose between returning to his life in
the court or to stay in the mysterious forest. The Prince decides to
stay. The Lilac Fairy appears and grants him a vision of Aurora’s
beauty. He declares his love for the Princess and is led to the castle
where, guarded by Carabosse, Aurora sleeps.

Together, the Prince and the Lilac Fairy’s magic defeat the evil
Carabosse. The Prince awakens Aurora with a kiss and the spell is broken.ActIII – The
Wedding Celebration: Dawn in the Transformed Kingdom
The whole kingdom celebrates the wedding of Prince Désiré
and Princess Aurora. The guests include fairy tale characters who present
their stories as gifts to the royal couple. Prince Désiré
and Princess Aurora are crowned with glory, and their reign of light
begins.